Research

Research and development of Canadian Metarhizium as biological agent for control of grasshoppers in pulse crops

Lentils

Crop Rotation

Pest Management

Lead Investigator(s)

Dr. Dan Johnson

Lead Investigator(s) Institution

University of Lethbridge - Dept. of Geography

Objective

To expand field tests to include replicated plots in Saskatchewan and Alberta in lentils and nearby cereal crops. To assess the timing and rate of reductions of activity and movement of infected insects, before they die from the disease in laboratory and outdoor trials. To generate data for environmental safety tests required by the DACO table from Pest Management Regulatory Agency. To optimize successful production of uncontaminated, viable and infective spores, as a function of temperature, substrate, timing, anti-oxidants, and nutrients.

Outcome

The candidate biocontrol product continued to prove highly infective to grasshoppers, causing mortality within one to two weeks, equivalent to similar agents known from Australia and other locations. Additional experiments showed reliable and repeatable reductions in feeding only four days after treatment. Field tests showed that the product is effective when applied with a simple carrier and sprayed with conventional field sprayers. Production of this isolate is not complicated, and yield has been reported to be as high or higher than with other isolates of Metarhizium. Viability of the dry spore product remained high over two years of storage.